Monday, June 05, 2006

Ingredients for Herbal Teas

Ingredients for Herbal TeaThese are the list of herbs suitable for herbal tea brewing. A combination of them is usually much more effective. All of the below can be sweeten with honey unless otherwise noted.Cough and coldPurple Sage and Thyme – 1 teaspoon of each herb per cup. Add ¼ teaspoon of Cayenne Pepper powder for a more powerful effect.Peppermint, Elderflower, Chamomile, and Lavender – For the first three, use ½ teaspoon, with a pinch of Lavender per cup.HorehoundHyssop – Mix with orange juice or with honey.Thyme – A powerful antiseptic, good for cough induced by sore-throat.Digestive AidChamomilePeppermint and Lemon Balm – Use after meal, if stomach churning is felt.Dill – Can be given to infants and young children. Crush ½ teaspoon dill seed to a cup of water and boil for ten minutes. Cool before consumption.Fennel – Boil the crush seeds and simmer for a while.Cinnamon – Infuse a stick in boiling water for five minutes. Cool and chill.TonicsNettles – Small handful of young, fresh leaves and infuses in 1 pint of boiling water. Strain before consuming.Spearmint – 1 Tablespoon chopped fresh leaves per cup and sweetens to taste.Basil – Three to four leaves per cup.Morning BluesLemon VerbenaPeppermintBergamotInsomniaChamomile – Add a pinch of Lavender for relaxation.Limeflower (Linden) and Elderflower – Add a dash of grated nutmeg and sweeten with honey or flavoured with lemon juice.Valerian – 2 teaspoon dried and shredded root to a cup of water and simmer for 20 minutes in a non-metal pan. Cool, strain and reheat before consumption.Headaches, Anxiety, and DepressionRosemaryLemon BalmSt. John’s WortPassion Flower, Valerian, and Motherwort – 1 teaspoon dried valerian and motherwort and add to ½ teaspoon of passionflower.DosageCautious readers might think how much to take or how often to take herbal remedies when treating illnesses. I, myself, have this kind of thought when I am first studying herbalism but as time goes on, I finally realised that herbs are not as scary as pills where you will get serious discomfort when taken over dosage or under dosage.However, there is a prescribed general dosage for all of this. Usually, if a dosage is given, it is usually in such a vague term as a glassful or a wineglassful taken up to three times a day. This might not be helpful to the over-cautious and thus, I suggest the following:A ‘standard’ dosage is Two to Three wineglassfuls (infusions) and One Cupful (pint cup) when taking decoctions daily. As for tinctures, only one wineglassful is to be less noted otherwise.A Little More Words about Herbal Teas…Anyone that has read my previous post about herbal infusions, I have a few corrections to make…First of all, tisanes and infusions are two different things. Tisanes are brewed at a much shorter time, sometimes only a few minutes while infusions (considered standard) are boiled and left to simmer not more than two minutes.In the case of tisanes, more herbs should be used as it brews for such a short time. The application of tisanes is certainly out of emergency as there is no ample time to prepare the standard infusion. However, it is not always necessary to prepare herbal tea as infusion if you want to enjoy its taste. Always remember to keep the lid close to avoid any escaping of valuable essential oils.For standard infusions, one should put the herbs into cold water and heat with a gentle fire until boiling. Once boil, simmer not more than two minutes and allow to be brewed no more than three hours. This kind of infusions can be kept fresh up to four days, if poured into a bottle and store in a refrigerator and instead of corking the bottle, use a muslin cloth or perforated greaseproof paper to cover. Always remember to keep the cover close to ensure no dissipating of valuable essential oils when boiling and brewing.

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A traditionalist though he did not know Chinese well. A Han Chinese himself, he is striving to restore the glorious past of his ancestors. In his spare time however, he likes to curl up in bed sleeping until the bed is tired of him and trying to kick him out via disembodied springs...